PM speaks to BFBS after UK agrees its deal to retain future of Diego Garcia military base
The UK has agreed a deal to keep control of the Diego Garcia military base located in the Chagos Islands, despite agreeing to hand the islands over to Mauritius.
The base supports UK forces and allies across the Middle East, East Africa and South Asia.
It has a deep-water port, an airfield and advanced communications and surveillance capabilities which have been used in missions to disrupt high-value terrorists, including Islamic State threats to the UK.
BFBS Forces News asked the Prime Minister what he would say to UK military personnel stationed there and what guarantees there are that any military operations are going to be able to continue totally uninterrupted.
Sir Keir Starmer told us: "You're safer now as a result of this treaty, because the uncertainty would have led to a potential compromise of this facility.
"In terms of military personnel, this base, this facility, has been used to protect our forces many times over.
"And by securing this treaty, this deal, it is now fully in place to protect them for 100 years, generations with an option to add another 40 years to that."
Without the deal, any international legal proceedings could have left the base inoperable, affecting UK national security in the process.
The base was called "one of the most significant contributions that we make to our security relationship with the United States" by the Prime Minister.
Speaking from the UK's military headquarters as the Government agreed to hand over the islands to Mauritius, the Sir Keir stressed the importance of maintaining control of a UK base on Diego Garcia.
"Almost everything we do from the base is in partnership with the US," he said.
"President Trump has welcomed the deal along with other allies, because they see the strategic importance of this base and that we cannot cede the ground to others who would seek to do us harm."
Sir Keir said the Government had to "act now" as the Mauritians would likely win legal disputes against Britain.
"If Mauritius took us to court again, which they certainly would have, the UK's longstanding legal view is that we would not have a realistic prospect of success and would likely face provisional measures orders within a matter of weeks."
This was a legal necessity recognised by both the Conservative Party and the current Labour Government, with the former government starting negotiations more than two years ago.
They held 11 out of the 13 rounds of talks that underpin the deal before this government concluded talks.
Crucially, all Five Eyes partners, namely the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, all back the agreement, along with India.
The deal with Mauritius over the Chagos Islands will cost the UK £3.4bn overall, the Prime Minister said.
"£101m a year is the average cost. The net overall cost is therefore £3.4bn overall. That's over the 99 years," he said.
"The average £100m per year is about the same, or slightly less than, the running cost of an aircraft carrier, minus the aircraft.
"Now, given the significance of this facility, both the geography and the capability, you can see that as, again, measured against an aircraft carrier running costs, that this is very good value for money."
"I should also say that is very similar to arrangements made by other allies, the US and France in relation to the bases that they lease and make arrangements for as well."
There are also a number of mesures and provisions to keep adversaries out.
This includes a 24 nautical mile buffer zone where nothing can be built or placed without UK consent, a rigorous process, including joint decision-making, to prevent any activities on the wider islands and a strict ban on foreign security forces on the outer islands, civilian or military.
There is also a binding obligation to ensure the base is never undermined.
"In terms of the protection of our military, our Armed Forces, our service personnel, this ensures that they have the maximum protection wherever they may be in just the same way as we had before," the PM told BFBS Forces News.
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